The Salamander.

Otago Witness, Issue 2817, 11 March 1908, Page 76

The Salamander.

Dr Leonhard Stejneger, of the Smithsonian Institution, who has just completed a study of the reptiles of Japan, says that the most remarkable of them is the "hanj ?aki," or giant salamander, which wme- ' times attains a length, of 4ft. It inhabits the high mountain valleys, and is found in ' switt-runninp Wooks <H clear, coldi water from mountain springs. In summer it deposits in a convenient hole a large number of eggs, the shells of 1 which arc gelatinous capsules, fastened to1 gether ir. a string in such fashion as to lesemble a rosary. Sometimes there arc ' as many as 500 eggs laid in a batch, and the salamander, wrapping the string around .ts body, carries it about until the time for hatching arrives. It may be that this is don«- for the purpose of protecting the eggs, or it is possible that the idea is merely to keep their, constantly washed with fresh wat<n\ incidentally to the movements of the parent animal. > Recently, for the first time, reptiles of this species have been induced to breed in. captivity—that is to say, in a large aquarium tank where it was possible to observe at leisure the deposition of the eggs, the parent salamander's method of dealing with them, and the peculiar transformations of tho joung larvie. In its native wilds, afthe breeding season, the creature is commonly enticed out of its hole by throwing into the stream a strong-smelling mixture o£ various animal ingredients made up into> small balls. The giant salamander is very good to eat. and its flesh is highly esteemed by the Japanese —owing to which circumstance ifc is threatened with extermination, pursuit of) the specie being carried on most industriously by hunters. At ordinary times, I when not breeding, it is easily captured by allowing a baited fishhook to dangle near its hole, its occupancy of a cavity beneath rocks being plainly indicated by the fact that a space on the pebbly bottorA immediately in front is kept always perfectly, clear of debris.